The Chinese herb, Panax Notoginseng (Burk.) F. H. Chen, is known for its beneficial pharmacological actions on the cardiovascular system. Panax Notoginseng, which is also known as Sanchi or Tienchi, grows in Yunnan and Guangxi Provinces of China. The active ingredients of the Sanchi plant are the Panax Notoginseng saponins (PNS). Thus far, researchers have identified and characterized twenty different dammarane-type saponins extracted from the Sanchi plant, many of which are pharmacologically active substances. For example, two major pharmacologically active saponins, panoxadiol and panoxatriol, are generated following hydrolysis of the ginsenoside monomer present in PNS.
The cardiovascular pharmacology of PNS preparations has been well studied. PNS preparations protect cardiac muscle and vascular endothelium by reducing the surface activity of blood platelets, by enhancing resistance to oxidative damage, and by removing free radical oxygen species. These effects of PNS preparations are thought to improve heart function and blood circulation and to promote greater tolerance to hypoxia conditions. Consequently, PNS preparations are useful for treating or preventing high blood pressure, hyperlipemia disease, and ischemic heart disease.
Though crude Sanchi extracts offer these health benefits, PNS preparations produced from Sanchi extracts offer several advantages over crude Sanchi extracts, including greater stability, higher bioavailability, lower toxicity, and improved safety. However, PNS preparations are available today that have reduced potency and inferior quality when used in the clinical setting.
The common drawbacks to presently available PNS preparations concern their low purity and the presence of contaminants. Furthermore, currently available PNS preparations are contaminated with unacceptable amounts of toxic metals, such as lead, arsenic, and mercury and can't wipe them off.
Some of these drawbacks are attributed to the relatively complex production processes for PNS preparations. Moreover, these production processes are used to generate PNS preparations for injection that are of dubious quality due to the presence of the aforementioned toxic substances. Thus, concerns exist about the safe administration of these compositions to patients.
Thus, there is a long-felt need for improved purification methods that yield highly purified PNS preparations suitable for administration to patients for treating or preventing blood circulation disorders, including cardiovascular disease.